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College is a funny thing. People are very devoted to their respective schools and I am no different. In my 40 some odd years I have lived in every major city in Texas and three other states. In all my time across Texas and around the country, Lubbock has always been home. I spent 5 years there, and shy or Oregon, Lubbock has been the place I have spent the most time in since I left home. So, you can say that I am attached to the place. While I was in Lubbock, I shot for the Texas Tech Year Book and school newspaper. In all the years there with a camera, I really never sat out to shoot the Administration building, the most dominant piece of architecture on the campus. So, when I was moving back to Texas from Seattle, I stopped in Lubbock and took some pictures. This shot is of the oldest building on campus.

Every college has its traditions. My school is no exception. This is a statue of Will Rogers. His statue is in the center of the main entrance to Texas Tech. The Administration building is in the background. The Traditions is known as “Midnight Raiders,” and takes place on Thursday nights before every home football game. The Saddle Tramps (A spirit organization for the school) wraps the Will Rogers statue with crepe paper and Streamers. Along with the statue these are hung from the coaches’ tower, band tower, and light poles all over campus. After Will is wrapped, the Saddle Tramps circle the horse to sing the Fight Song, Matador Song, and pledge class songs.This shot was taken on a recent visit to the school (March 26, 2011). I was there to take my kids to see the school and to see the spring inter-squad football game. While there I took this shot, one that I never took while attending the school despite having a camera with me everywhere I went.

Tech Tradition

Even though it was just spring football game, it was nice to be on campus again, see the sights with the kids and capture a shot that I should have taken over 20 years ago.

Yesterday ended on a high note… one that I wasn’t expecting. I just got back from Seattle and had all of my mail. Some of which included a new barrage of magazines I need to read. One such magazine was Digital Photo. The May/June issue had arrived. So, I started to flip through it and there it was…. my picture of Graham Harrell of Texas Tech on page 12. I got an entire page for my one image as well as a very nice write up.

Talk about making my day…. this was a great way to end it.

Graham Harrell of Texas Tech in 2008

Last year I was very fortunate to have been published 5 times. (3 books and two city newspapers). I had thought that this may be a dry year and the folks at Digital Photo Magazine ran this shot. Its a REAL privilege for me to be carried in this magazine. I read it cover to cover every issue and participate in their contests and forums. It was nice to get recognized and included in the magazine.

After some key decisions, changes and work the new Faces, Places and Things On-line store is now (finally) available. I recently had to make a change in the eCommerce provider as I wasn’t happy with their image display or online galleries. So, I had to re-create the store, upload images etc. I am finally done and happy to announce that everyone who has been asking for my Tech Football pictures can now places orders online.

The galleries feature 46 images that are available for sale. Prints come in a variety of sizes, papers and mounting options. Mouse pads, key chains and mugs are available as well. Please go check out the online store. If there is an image that you are looking for that isnt online, send me a note and I will create a private gallery so you can place your order.

What better way to start off a new image than using a new tool. Finally after all of my issues with CS4, I can happily write and show my first image produced using the new tools. This image is of Heisman leading quarterback Graham Harrell of Texas Tech. This September for my birthday I was given a trip to Reno to shoot Texas Tech football. While there I had the distinct pleasure of photographing and watching two Heisman candidates while also enjoying a win for Tech. (TTU Grad 90′)

This shot is roughly 30 layers in CS4 and finished up being 600MB when completed. I used both the 32 and 64 bit versions to create this image. The 32bit version of CS4 works fine in Windows XP64 (now that the Nik Select issue is resolved). The new UI for CS4 is great. It didn’t take me anytime to get up and running. Now, while this particular edit didn’t make use of any of the new wiz-bang features of CS4 I did get to enjoy the new UI and replacement of modal dialogs. One of the new features they don’t mention online nor in the write-ups is the healing tool. With the new version when you ALT+Click an area to sample as you move the mouse over the area to be fixed you get a preview of the pixel pattern inside the circumference of the brush prior to placing the edit. This is a great new feature especially when you are editing areas that have lines or patterns in them and you want to make sure you place your cursor in the right place. The zooming in and out really is a huge improvement over CS3. Despite the limitations of OpenGL in WindowsXP64 there is a very noticeable gain in speed when zooming, rotating etc. You do have to experiment with the GPU settings and your individual video card (in XP64) to find the sweet spot of performance but its well worth playing with. As I dive into CS4 more I will write about my experience as well as how the tool is performing and focus on some of the new functionality. As for right now, I am real happy with how this shot turned out and with my investment in CS4.

The original image was shot with my D700 and my 80-400mm f4.5-5.6 lens. ISO 800.

The goal of this shot was to visually depict what it’s like when an athlete is in the ZONE. This Zone is this mystical place where your senses are razor sharp and you isolate all distraction and focus on the play or the game. It’s like moving in slow motion and taking everything in while in reality a split second has elapsed. I had tried this once already, but this is a new effort and focuses on the top of the Heisman list Graham Harrell, the best quarterback in Texas Tech school history if not the country.

In The ZoNe!

As always comments and feedback are greatly appreciated.

UPDATE:
This image is now available in our online store for sale. To order this image go to the FPT web site or go straight to our online store: Here

On Sept 6, 2008 I had the opportunity to photograph the AP Poll #7 ranked Texas Tech Red Raiders as they played the University of Nevada Reno in a non conference game. I used to shoot for TTU when I was in college. Knowing they dont send staff photographers to the away games I volunteered since I was attending. The game was great, and I have to admit I had a great time. The school used my photos in the Sept 8th and 9th edition of The Daily Toreador and on their web site. Special thanks to Darrel Thomas of TTU Student Media Services for getting me the field pass and publishing my photos.

I call this shot “FOCUS” its a statement about the zone athletes get in when they are in the middle of a game and 100% focused on their performance. The crowd fades, the noise fades and all that is left is you, the field, the ball and the other players.